Encourage One Another

Lonnie Brooks

The Second Coming and Us • Sermon • Submitted 8 years ago

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Introduction

This morning I say welcome to you and your families, it is a blessing to be here with you all today.

I was thinking and praying the other morning asking the Lord for direction about today and the message I kept receiving was “encourage one another.”

It is a sad time, we have lost a member of our family, a son. a brother, a husband and a spiritual brother in Christ. He left this world at a time when we think it perhaps He is far to young.

It seems out of season when a parent loses a child .....

But when I think about death, I am reminded that Jesus tells us that death is not the end, in truth it is the beginning of the fullest stage of our life.

And of course, I think of Paul who tells us that we should not grieve the same way as those who have no hope, as those who do not know Jesus. We have hope!

We have hope because we have Jesus!

This morning I want us to encourage one another, we have hope because of Jesus.

So this morning I want us to look at several passages of Scripture. , and .

Now lets take a little time and lets consider some thoughts the Scriptures share that will encourage us.

1. Because He Lives ..... We Live.....

The truth of our encouragement is anchored in Jesus and His resurrection.

Now consider this thought with me, the first Adam, and all that followed him were meant to live forever, they were meant to be eternal, both spiritually and physically. They were made in the image of God and had their life and purpose in Him.

But this is before the fall of man.

Now the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve where in a garden, . Now here is a truth...

You see there were two great trees in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this tree they were to stay away from, they were to avoid it and not to eat. That was the command God gave to them....

But Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan, and their disobedience brought sin and death into this world.… and suddenly there is a great problem.

Death would reign....

Now consider this thought....

But there was a second tree, there in the garden was a tree, a tree of life.

This world, which was perfect, was suddenly under a curse, it was touched by sin.

But there was a tree of life as well.

God did not want man to be eternal physically under the ravages of sin… so God put mankind (Adam and Eve) out of the garden.

Genesis 3:22 ESV

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

Genesis 3:22–23 ESV

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Genesis 3:22–23 ESV

So suddenly here is a man who cannot live forever, because sin has ruined man’s relationship with God.

This problem is why Jesus came… Jesus came and died to redeem all mankind from their sin…

But redemption is just a part of what God was doing in and through His son.

Jesus bleed and died, and gave up His life for us, for humanity .... He was buried in a new tomb and on the third day Jesus rose from the dead.

Now if you look at ; Paul tells us plainly that Jesus is the first born from the dead, the first fruits of the resurrection as the KJV says....

What does that mean? - first born from the dead or the first fruits of the resurrection.

3 days after the crucifixion, Jesus is raised. He comes out of the tomb alive.

God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus is the only person God has raised from the the dead that is still alive today!

His resurrection guarantees our resurrection

First fruits speaks to a first but many to follow in the future.

Listen to Paul’s words to the believers at Corinth....

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Jesus was “First fruits” of what would follow in the days to come.... all those who believe would follow and be the second set of fruits if you will....

Because Jesus is alive, He has risen from the dead and so shall we...

Encourage each other with those truths my friends....

Why is all of this possible my friends?

It is possible because death is done my friends, it has no power over us..

2. Death is done.....

Now think about this statement for a minute, when I say death is done, I don’t mean of course that we will not see death anymore...

I mean this : Death has no power for the people of God.

Death has no power for the people of God.

The truth of life is this, we are born, we come into this world, and sadly this world is touched by sin, and humanity is touched by sin as well.

So by birth we come into the world and then we grow, we change and at some point in the future… death come to us. We just do not know how long we have from point A (Birth) and point B (death).

But there is a great blessing for humanity, there is a Savior who loved us, still loves and and has given himself as the sacrifice for sin.

Jesus died that we might have life.

Consider Lazarus in John chapter 11. Lazarus, this man who loved Jesus. He was a fried to Jesus fell ill and died… Point A (birth) and Point B (death) were seen in His life...

And as Jesus approached his sisters, Martha came out to Him grieving, sorrowful and she says to Jesus.... If you had been here he would not have died....

See I believe with all my heart they understood Jesus to be Life....

Now the glorious news we see in this chapter are the words Jesus speaks to her/

listen to

John 11:25–27 ESV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

John 11:25–26 ESV

This beautiful passage Jesus says He is life, no matter the state of man… and those who believe, they will have life as well!

Death has no power over these people.

How do I know for certain....

1 Corinthians 15 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. 29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

I Cor 15

Let me share a passage with you…

1 Corinthians 15:51–56 ESV

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

I love what Paul says here, death is swallowed up in victory.... Consider this word “swallow’ in the Greek it is Katapino, it means to be taken over to destruction… It is done away with… there will be no more death...

Christ has forever put away death and given life to all who are his....

Death may visit, you see Jesus hasn’t returned yet… so death will still visit homes, but it has not power.... to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord Paul tells us and then here in almost a taunting voice.... death where is your power? Where is your sting....

Stings, bring discomfort, swelling, and can bring death.... But the sting is powerless to those who are with Christ

Yes, death does mean separation for a while…

But take heart my friends, Morning is coming.......

When morning comes my friends, Jesus will bring our soul/spirit back with Him on that morning and these bodies will be changes…

Remember Paul says the perishable must put on the imperishable, mortality will be immortality ....

And death is done......

Take heart my friends Jesus is coming again ......

And this leads to my last thought ....

3. Jesus is Coming Again....

Jesus is coming again and with Him the resurrection of all those sweet people who are His… and those who remain, well they will experience the fastest wardrobe change in the history of the world… in the twinkling of an eye.

Now jump over to just one last passage :13-18

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 ESV

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

When death comes, yes we will grieve, there will be tears and sadness, oh yes… we hurt but Paul says my friends I do not want you to grieve like the world that has no hope.

We have a hope friends, a living Hope and His name is Jesus.....

And I love what Paul says… He reminds us..

Jesus is coming again!!!

The angels said that the one who went away would return in like manner… and verse 16 says the Lord himself, Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout of the archangel and the trumpet call of God

And here is the promise....

The dead in Christ will rise!

Those who remain will be changed

And we will meet the Lord in the air!

Hallelujah....

Jesus is coming again, I have nothing to fear, nothing to worry and I know, I know for certain that Jesus is coming again..

And what do we do until then?

Look at verse 18....

1 Thessalonians 4:18 ESV

18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Encourage each other.... Jesus is coming, we will be united with Jesus and them..

But friends understand, it will be wonderful to see those we love, but the heart of the matter is this… we will see Jesus!